Ruby's story
by the-monkees-and-beatles-are-on
Summary: The Monkees get together for the first time, with a special twist. (Lame summary but it's hard to explain!) Rated T just in case
1. Chapter 1

Wed, Feb 25th, 1964

I wake up this morning to the phone ringing. More like _screaming._ It stops… _Peter must have answered it…_I think._ Thank god._ _It so rude to wake people up this early with a freakin' phone call! _Then I look at the clock. 11 AM. _Good god. _

"RUBY! IT'S FOR YOU!" Peter, my roommate, calls from the next room. _Of course it is…_ I pick up the phone. "I GOT IT!" I yell, and here the phone click on the line. "Hello?" I ask into the phone.

"Hi, is this Ruby?" A man with a British accent asks.

"Yes, may I ask who this is?"

"This is Davy Jones. You called yesterday about our apartment." He replies.

"Oh yeah, you see, my roommate and I are looking for a place to live. The apartment we are staying in is being closed, so we need to find another apartment by the first of next month, and when I saw your ad saying you needed two roommates to split the rent with, I thought that sounded perfect! I know it's Short notice, I'm sorry about that!"

"Oh no, that's fine, actually, the sooner the better! See, what's happening is there are 3 of us already, and we can't pay the rent! With 2 more, the rent would be $50 each. Think you can cover that?"

I gasp. It's $100 each right now. With covering #50 less, I could afford to get the record I want almost right away! No saving! "Oh, we can definitely cover that, Davy." I reply.

"Great! So I guess you'll be wanting to see the place, and meet us, before you make any decisions. When are you free to come over?"

"Well, we have nothing planned today. So anytime. We could actually be there in about 30 minutes if you can be ready by then."

"Actually, that's perfect! See you then!" He replies, and the click on the other end tells me he's hung the phone up.

I run to the next room, and tell Peter the news.


	2. Meet and Greet

Wed, Feb 25th, 1964

Peter and I stop just outside the apartment. We had been walking, since we can't afford a car.

"Well, this is the address, it should be it. The ad says it's the second level though." I say to Peter (or as I usually call him, Pete. I look up at the 3 story building. Peter starts walking to the stairs, and I run up to his side, and walk with him. We arrive at the door.

"Do you want to knock?" Pete asks me.

"Wimp." I say to him, and he pouts. "Sorry, big Pete, that was mean. Yeah , I'll knock." Needless to say, Peter is a little over-emotional.

I knock on the door. "Someone's at the door!" I hear someone shout from inside. A small window in the middle of the door opens, and a pair of lovely brown eyes peek through. "It's some girl! And a blonde kid!" The same voice yells, and the window closes. I hear footsteps walking towards the door.

"You idiot!" Davy says, opening the door. "It's the girl I talked to on the phone about our apartment."

"Oh, the people that're gonna move in?" The voice asks.

"Maybe!" Davy replies. " 'Ello, there! You must be Ruby!" He says to me.

"And you must be Davy! Nice to meetcha! This is my roommate Peter." Davy is short. Very short. I would say he's a good 9 inches shorter than me, and being that I'm 6 foot, that'd make him about 5' 3. He has long brown hair, and brown eyes.

"Ey, Pet-ah!" He says, as Peter tries to hide behind me. "Shy, huh? That's alrigth I guess. Want some tea to make you feel at home?"

We step into the apartment, and a man stands up from the couch in what I guess is the living room. He is tall, and slim, with brown eyes, and a green wool hat sitting on top of a mop of long brown hair. "Davy, you're the only one here who'll feel at home with a cup of tea." The tall man says. He has a Texas drawl to his voice. "Hello, I'm Michael Nesmith, but you can call me Mike. It's nice to meet ya, Ruby and Peter." He says to me.

"Nice to meet you too!" I reply. "I thought there was three of you?"

"Oh yeah, we're missing one, aren't we?" Davy asks, making Pete and I laugh. Peter Looks like he's finally feeling more comfortable. "Micky?!" Davy yells to the bedroom downstairs. They stairs are in a spiral, and very groovy!

A bedroom door opens, and the man I suppose is Micky runs out, and slams the door behind him. He is my height, with long, curly brown hair going just about every which-way, and brown eyes. He runs over to us, and stands next to Davy.

"Hiya!" He says. "What'd I miss, Davy?"

"Mick, this is Ruby, and Peter. They're here to look at the apartment." Davy replies.

Micky walks over to me. "Hi, Ruby! Hi, Pete!" He says.

Peter is standing next to me now. "Hi!" He says to Micky, and smiles.

"Well, let's show you all around!" He says.

**Later**

"We'll take it. When can we move in?" I ask Mike. They had shown us all around the house,and we loved it. They were great people as well, and very funny. Especially Micky! Peter and I had stepped into the bedroom alone to talk to eachother about it, and we were both very excited to move in. We would be sleeping in the downstairs bedroom with Davy, and we would each have our own bed. Mike and Micky would sleep upstairs, since that room was smaller. We also met the landlord, mr. Babbit, who seemed rather pleased that they would finally be able to meet the rent.

"You can start moving your stuff in today, if you want!" Mike told us. "Do you need a ride and we can pick up some boxes? I noticed you walked."

"That would be groovy!" I said, and after Micky volunteered to come with us and help us carry stuff, we walked to the door. Davy said he would stay and order Pizzas for lunch.

**That's the end of the second chapter! Please Please Please review!**


	3. The big Move

Wed, Feb 25, 1964

We pull up to Peter and I's apartment in Mike's car, and I point out which room is ours. We walk up to it, and I open the door, revealing a clean apartment with about 5 medium sized boxes sprawled around.

"That's all?" Mike asks, referring to the small amount of boxes. "You guys have barely got anything! Why, when we moved into our place, Micky had eleven boxes all to himself!" Micky grunts at that.

"Well, we're not very sentimental." I reply. "Peter and I have each got two boxes, one for clothes and one for our books and notebooks. And one more with our records. The real load with be carryin' our instruments!" I lead Mike and Micky to our second bedroom, and open the door, which reveals our array of instruments: There's two guitars, a bass, a harpsichord, a Fiddle, a keyboard, a drumset, and a piano.

"Geez!" Is what Micky says, in aw. He has a great huge smile on his face.

"The piano stays. It's the landlords." Peter says.

"Well, I guess we had better get to moving!" Mike says. "We should get the instruments first, being that they're the biggest, the get the boxes."

And with that, we get to work. Packing instruments and carrying them out to the car. We do as Mike said and take the boxes last. We end up having the perfect amount of room.

"I'm hungry," Micky complains. "I haven't eaten anything since breakfast." I look at the clock, proclaiming it's about 2:30.

"Good thing Davy ordered Pizzas." Peter replies.

"Well, we just have these last two boxes, and then I gotta let our landlord know we won't coming back. After that, I guess we can get back to the apartment and have lunch!" I say.

"Here," Mike says. "Micky and I can get the last boxes, you two go down and talk to the landlord. We can meet ya' at the car."

"Sounds good!" I say and walk out the door, Peter following behind me.

**Later, in the car on the way back to the apartment**

I 'm sitting in the back of the car, next to Micky, and watched as Mike and Peter are a having a very deep conversation about music.

"Wow! Just look at them!" I say to Micky. "Doesn't look like they're gonna have ANY trouble getting along, huh, Mick?

Micky laughs, "Definitely not! Wow, I can't believe this all happened so fast!It's gonna be great to have you guys around. I really like you and Peter, I think it's gonna be fun!"

"I think so too." I smile at him.

"So how did you two meet up?" Micky asks me.

"We went to school together." I tell him. "It's kind of a long story though"

"Well it's a long ride! Shoot!"

I laugh. Micky certainly is straightforward! "Alright. Well, I am an orphan, and Pete and I always hung out together in school, between classes though, because he's about four years older than me. I don't really remember how we met, but I guess that's not that important. Anyways, I lived at the orphanage, and it was the worst place imaginable. For an example, if you got up even five minutes late, you could be whipped. It was dreadful. I grew up there, because my mother left me there when I was 2 months old. I never even knew her name!" Micky is sitting, and patiently listening to my story. It feel so good to tell it to someone. Mike and Peter stopped talking, and are listening as well. "Anyways, Peter promised me that at soon as he was eight-teen (which was when I was four-teen) and it was legal, he would adopt me, and get me out of that dreadful place. So, we've been living together ever since, which has been three years now. Funny enough, he's legally my parent, until I'm eight-teen, which isn't for another year. He (obviously) is more of a brother to me. So, I guess that wraps up the story of Ruby Gold and Peter Tork!" I finish, and Micky laughs at how I finished.

"Wow," Mike says.

"Wow sure is right! I guess I don't know what else to say!" Micky says.

"There's really nothing else to say." I reply, just as we pull up to Peter and I's new-found home. We get out of the car.

"Well, I'm starving. What do ya'll say to just taking in what we can carry for now, and getting' the rest after we eat?" Mike asks.

"Oh, that sounds great!"

The front door opens, and Davy comes running out. "Great timing, pizzas just got here!" He says, and grabs a box before he runs back into the house. The rest of us follow suite, and then sit down to eat.

**End of chapter 3! PLEASE review and tell me what to think, so I know if I should continue the story or not!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Thursday, February 26, 1964

I wake up this morning at about 8:00, which is actually pretty early for me. I'm surprised that I slept through the night, usually I wake up in the night, and can't fall back asleep for a while. When that happens, I usually just play my guitar, or go for a walk, and try not to wake Peter up. Now I have four roommates to worry about waking up. But thankfully, I didn't have to worry about that last night.

I sit up, and look around the small bedroom. I am in the back of the room, with my bed against the wall. The bathroom door is just at the foot of my bed. Davy's bed is in the middle of the room, with his headboard against the wall. Pete is on the opposite side of the room from me, next to the door.

Both the guys are still asleep, and Davy is snoring. I laugh. I stand up, grab some clothes out of the closet we all share, and walk into the bathroom to take a shower. I close the door and lock it, and look around the bathroom. It's small, with a standup shower with a glass door. It has a blue tile floor, a blue toilet, and blue towels. Whoever decorated this was going through a blue phase at the time. Above the sink is a large mirror, and I stop to look at myself.

I have shiny, raven black hair, which is rather knotted up from sleeping, with bangs. I am pale, I don't tan, no matter how long I sit in the sun. My eyes are a very light blue, and stand out against my signature black eyeliner, which along with mascara, is the only makeup I ever wear. I am tall, about 6 feet. I am WAY too skinny, about 109 Lbs. I hate myself for it. All I have ever wanted was curves, but instead I look like a freakin' stick. No matter how much I eat, I can barely gain any weight.

I strip off my clothes, and step into the shower, and let the warm water envelope me. I shampoo my hair and wash myself, and soak in the hot water for about five minutes, until it suddenly turns ice cold, and I am forced to step out. Someone upstairs must be taking a shower as well. I dry off, brush my hair, and put on my eyeliner and mascara. Next I put on my bell-bottom jeans, and a Beatles t-shirt. The Beatles are my favorite band, for a very special reason. But I'll save that for later.

I walk out of the bathroom, and Davy is just waking up.

"Bathroom's free." I tell him, and he grounds, and slowly stands up to walk to the bathroom. I laugh, apparently Davy's not much of a morning person either. Peter is still sleeping.

When I walk out, Micky is up and awake. He is wearing a poncho, which looks suspiciously like the tablecloth we ate on last night, and jeans.

"Heya, Ruby!" He says, as he puts a teapot on the stove. "For Davy," He says and nods toward the teapot. "Want some?"

"Not this morning, thanks Mick. How are you this morning?" I ask.

"Oh, I'm just great." He replies, rummaging through the nearly empty cupboards, until he finds two bowls. He hands one to me, and does the same with two glasses.

"Thanks. Where's the cereal?" I ask. He stops for a second.

"Right... Here!" He hands me a box of Rice Crispys, and I pour them in both of our bowls as he goes to the fridge and gets milk and orange juice. I frown as he pours the orange juice on his cereal, and the milk in his glass.

"Haven't you got that mixed up?" I ask.

"What? Oh, no! It's really good! Try it!" He says and hands me a spoon and his bowl of cereal. I try a bite, and actually sort of like it.

"Hey, that's weird, but it's pretty good!" I say, pouring orange juice on my own cereal.

"Wow, you're the first person I've ever met who's like it that way." He says, sounding very serious, and smiles at me. Just then, the door opens and Peter walks out of our bedroom, wearing his bunny Pajamas.

"Groovy Pj's." Micky says to him, smiling. "Cereals in the cabinet."

"Good luck finding a bowl." I chime in. I'm actually rather disappointed Peter came out. I was having a really great time talking to Micky. I'm really starting to like him a lot.

Micky and I are sitting at the table now, eating our cereal, as Peter walks over.

"Why's your cereal orange?" He ask me.

"It's orange juice! Here, try some!" I say, and hand him my bowl. He try's a bite.

"Eww," he says, grimacing. "You like that?"

"I guess you're right!" I say to Micky. "So where the cowboy?"

"Oh, he's in the shower. Where's Casanova?"

"Same." I reply.

"Hey, after breakfast do you wanna go down to the beach?" Micky asks Peter and I, as we all finish up our cereal.

"That'd be fun!" Peter says, and I nod in agreement.

Just then, Mike and Davy both walk out of the bedrooms. Today, Mike is wearing a blue hat instead of a green one, to match his blue shirt. Davy is wearing a red, double-breasted shirt. Micky asks them if they want to go down to the beach.

"That would be just great! Let's go get our swimsuits on." Mike says.

We migrate into our bedrooms, and I take my plain black Bikini out of the closet, and change in the bathroom. When I'm done, I grab a tote bag, and put a book, sunscreen, and a towel inside. I walk out of the bedroom, with Davy and Peter right behind me. Just then, Mike and Micky walk out of their bedroom in their swim trunks.

"Race ya!" Davy says to me, then starts running. I run after him.

"I want in!" Micky yells, chasing after me. I run past Davy, and onto the beach.

"Beat ya both!" I shout, and Micky runs at me, and tackles me. He knocks me down, and falls on top of me. We're both laughing like crazy.

"Get offa me ya' big oaf!" I say, pushing him off me and still laughing. Everyone else is too.

First we play a game of volley ball, with my team of Micky and Mike and I winning. The we just swim for a while, and read. It's been about two hours.

Micky comes and sets his towel next to mine on the sand and lays down. The rest of the guys wondered over to a group of girls to try and get phone numbers. I've been laying in the sand for the last half hour, trying to get a tan. It hasn't worked.

"Hey, us guys were thinkin' maybe tonight we could go to the Vincent Van Go Go tonight for dinner and dancing. You in?" Micky asks me.

"That sounds just wonderful," I say, and smile at him. "It's be nice to get to know the town a little more. Peter and I didn't come here very often."

"Well, the guys are staying in this afternoon I think, but if you want, I could take you and show you around town! There's a really groovy record shop on Fifth. We can get lunch, too." Micky offers. I smile a huge smile.

"It's a date!" I say, making him laugh. I feels good to make him laugh, I don't know why though.

"When should I pick you up? It's a long drive, so I'd like to know soon." Now I'm laughing.

"What time is it?"

"Around Eleven, I think." He replies.

"Well, do you think we can go up to the pad and get dressed? We can walk downtown if you want."

"Perfect. Go on ahead, and I'll let the guys know."

**That's the end of chapter four! Let me know what you think, please!**


	5. My tour

Thurs, Feb 26, '64

Micky walks into the bedroom, just as I finish getting dressed. He is wearing a plain red shirt, and gray bellbottoms.

"You ready to go?" Micky asks. He's talking really fast, and looks super exited. I grab two $20 bills out of my wallet and shove them in my pocket, I don't feel like toting my purse around.

"Ready!" I say smiling, and we walk out the front door.

"Okay, Ruby, tell me about yourself."

"Like what? I'm not that interesting, really."

"I bet you are too!" he says, as we walk towards town. "Here, how about this, if you had to give a brief summary of your life and who you are, what would it be? Shoot!"

"Well, okay. I was born in 1946, and I'm gonna be 18 in March. When I was growing up, I spent my life switching between living in the orphanage out here and living with my dad's sister and son in Liverpool, England, on and off. My dad died a month before I was born, and my mom never told the orphanage her name, just my aunt's. My aunt never knew Momma's name either, dad never got to tell her. My aunt's name is Louise, and her son (my cousin) is named George. He's one of my best friends, and we talk on the phone almost every day. My middle name is Samantha, and so George always calls me Sammy, 'cause he says he likes that name better than Ruby. I work at the Vincent Van Go Go, singing and dancing. The club always has entertainment, and I'm one of the lucky ones it hires regularly. Peter come too, on occasion, and plays guitar while I sing. I can play 8 instruments so far, and my least favorite subject in school was English. My favorite band is the Beatles. I guess that's about it!" I finish.

"Wow, and you said you weren't interesting! You could write a book, and I bet people would be hooked!" Micky says. We are finally downtown, and are walking up to the music store. "This is the famous 'Harry's'. He's been here since '52! He keeps stocked with all the new records. Wanna go in?"

"Sure would!" I say, and Micky opens the door for me. "Thanks" I say as we both wonder towards the new albums. I flip through the stack. "Look at this! The Beatles got out a new album! George never told me that!"

"What Is George a fan too?" Micky asks.

"I guess you could say that…" I say. _If only he knew, _I think. _But I can't tell him who George is. Not yet anyways. I don't know him well enough. I've had so many people being m friends, just to get to George. I can't take that form Micky. _

"You gonna buy it?" Micky asks me.

"Oh yeah, definitely. I'm gonna go ahead and check it out." I reply, and head over to the counter, as Micky continues to search the stacks of LPs.

"Hi, you're a newby, aintcha'? I'm the Harry, the proud owner of Harry's. Who're you?" The man behind the counter asks. He talks strangely, kind of pushing all his words together into one big one.

"I'm Ruby. I'd like to check this out, please"

"Nicetameetcha' Ruby. You with Mickythere?" He asks as he total up the price with tax. "That $8.23"

"Yep, My friend and I moved in with the boys yesterday. We both needed roommates, so it works out nicely." I hand him one of the twenties I had in my pocket. Micky walks up behind me, carrying an Elvis Presley record.

"This isa mightyfine girl you got here, Mick." Harry says to him.

"Yeah, well, I'm starting to like her." Micky says and winks at me. Harry just laughs, hand me my receipt and checks Micky out.

"Want to get lunch now? This café is great." Micky says as we walk out, gesturing to the café next door. I nod, and we walk in, Micky opening the door again for me.

We walk up to the counter, and order a sandwich and shake each (Micky got Strawberry, I got Vanilla), and a basket of fries to split. After a bit of arguing, I convince Micky to let me pay for lunch. After all, he was the one who was spending his free time being my tour guide.

"So, tell me about you. What's your summary?" I ask him as we sit down, and he laughs.

"Okay, let's see… I grew up in LA, and moved to Malibu once I turned 18. Mike and I were roommates, and when we couldn't pay rent alone we invited Davy, (who I knew already) to join us. My dad's name is George, by the way… I'm half Italian on my dad's side, and my other half is all jumbled. I think I've got native American, and some other stuff. I play the drums, and I love Science and Chemistry. I play the guitar, and the drums, and my favorite color is white. And… I guess that about it for the ongoing saga of Micky Dolenz!" He says, making me laugh.

The food comes, and Micky starts eating his sandwich right away. I start in on the French fries. "You interested in science at all?" Micky asks me through a mouthful of sandwich.

"Well, when I moved in with Peter, I quit school. So I don't know much science. I always found it the most interesting when I was in school though." I start in on my own sandwich. "You should teach me some!" I say.

"Now?" He asks.

"Well, why not? Like, okay… I remember when I dropped out, we were talking about chemistry actually, like different chemicals and things like that. You said you like chemistry, tell me something about that!"

He thinks for a moment, and then starts telling me about is own chemistry set. How if you mix certain things, you can make everything form a stink bomb to a real bomb to medicine. It's really interesting actually, and Micky makes it very funny by adding sound effects when he talks about times he's made things explode. We finish lunch, and walk out of the café and down the street a bit.

"Would you mind if we go in here?" He says, pointing at a little clothes shop on the corner. "I need to get a new rain jacket."

"Oh sure! I actually want to look for a new dress, so that'd be perfect!" I say, walking in. This time I get to the door first, so I open the door. "I'll be over here." I say, wandering over to the dresses.

The first thing that catches my eye is dress hangnign on the wall. It is emerald green, and shimmery, but not overly so. It has a turtleneck and short sleeves, and a short miniskirt. I grab it immediately, and find someone to open the dressing room for me.

"Hi, I'm Lucy, how may I help you today?" The worker, apparently named Lucy, asks me.

"I'd like to try this on please" I hold the dress up for her to see.

"That is going to look stunning on you," she says, walking to the dressing rooms. She opens the door, and I go in and try it on. I already have white flat sandals on, that actually look really good with the dress. I look in the mirror, and realize I actually look really good. It clings in just the right places, making me look a little curvier, but not fat. I step out, and Lucy gasps.

"It's perfect!" We both say at the same time. "You HAVE to get it." She says. "Micky! Check out your friends dress!" She calls across the store.

"You know Micky?" I ask.

"Yeah, I was dating Davy for a while. We're still really good friends, and I hang out at the pad sometimes. I take it you're the new roommate?" She asks.

"Yup. I moved in yesterday. We should hang out sometime!" I say to her, as Micky wonders over, wearing a grey raincoat, with big red buttons.

"Wow." Is all he says, smiling at me like an idiot. "You look… So… so…"

"Pretty?" Lucy asks.

"Yeah, that's it. You look really pretty" He says, blushing. I don't know why he's acting so goofy all of the sudden, you'd think he just saw a ghost!

"Thanks Mick! I really like that jacket on you!" I say. The jacket really does look good.

"I think I'm going to buy it…" He says, wondering over to the checkout.

"That was… strange. He was being so goofy! I wonder what's up!" I say to Lucy, after Micky is out of earshot.

"Yeah, I wonder." She doesn't look at all like she wonders, but she doesn't say anything. "Well, go get back into your own clothes, and I can ring you up."

I do as she says. After I pay and Micky pays, we start walking back to the pad. Micky is wearing his jacket, and we're each carrying bags. "I, uh, bought something for you." Micky says, reaching into his coat pocket. "After I saw you in in your dress, I saw this on the way to the register, and I thought it would look on you." He's blushing again.

He hands me a small box, and I open it. Inside is one the most beautiful neclaces I have ever seen. I gasp, looking over it's silver chain. On the end is a small ruby, encased in a silver heart. "I thought it was kind of neat, since your name is Ruby, to buy you a ruby." He tells me.

"It's so pretty!" I say. "Thank you so much, Micky!" I put my bags down, and give him a huge hug. "You didn't have to do that!"

"I know," but I wanted to. He's blushing AGAIN, and I laugh. "What?"

"Well, ever since you saw me in that dress, you've done nothing but blush!" He gets even redder, smiling goofily. "It's a good thing though, you look cute when you blush," I tell him and wink. "Can you put this on me please?" I hand him the necklace.

"Sure!" I pull my hair off my back, and ha puts the necklace on me. "There!" I turn around to face him, smiling. "Very pretty!" He says. "Come on, it's 4 o'clock, the guys are going to be worried about us."

We head back to the pad, and I put my stuff in my room. I find Davy in there, sitting on his bed, playing with my maracas. "I hope you don't mind," he says "They just caught my eye, and I had to use them!" I laugh.

"Anytime."

"So, you get anything good?" He asks, as I sit across form him on his bed.

"Yeah! I got a new dress for when we go dancing tonight, and the new Beatles record!" I say. "Oh, I almost forgot. Micky got me this!" I say, pointing to the necklace I'm wearing.

"It's very pretty. A ruby for Ruby!"

"That's exactly what Micky said." I reply, laughing.

"Hey, you want to go listen to the new album on the jukebox? I know for a fact Mike's really been wanting to hear it." I nod, and we head out. Mike and Peter are in the living room already, and Micky is pounding down the stairs from his bedroom.

"We're gonna listen to the new Beatles album!" Davy says, holding it up. He puts it in the jukebox, and we all gather around to listen to it.


	6. Dancing

Thurs, Feb 26, '64

The album finishes, and Peter starts clapping, causing us all to laugh. "I wish I could get to be as good and big as them," Mike says.

"You play? I didn't know that." I say.

"Yeah, I play guitar. Micky plays drums too, and Davy can play any percussion instrument." He replies.

"Huh, Micky neglected to mention THAT to me!" I say, making them laugh again. "I sing down at the Vincent Van Go Go, and I'm actually looking for new backing band. I've already got Pete here in for playing bass, and I'm playing the piano and keyboard, but would you guys be interested in completing the band? We could talk to the manager tonight, and see if it's okay. It'd be a great way for you guys to get some more money in!"

All the guys look really exited. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm in!" Micky says first.

"Alright, so am I!" Davy says. The only one that's left is Mike.

"I dunno, Rubes." He says, saying the nickname he gave me. "I never played with a band before. I've always been solo."

"Oh, I bet you'll be fine! It's not like we won't have time to practice. I can still go solo myself until you guys think we're ready to play together in front of an audience." I say.

"Well… I guess we can give it a shot. But if I decide later that I don't wanna do it, I don't want you givin' me any grief about it!"

"It's a deal!" I say. "This'll be great!"

"Hey," Pete interrupts. "It's about six, and I'm hungry. What do you guys say to getting ready to go? We still gotta talk to the manager before we even eat!"

We all agree, and head into our bedrooms. Pete and Davy dive into the bathroom, and start combing their hair, and I change into my dress in the closet. The guys are dressed fine already, so they decide not to change. I step out of the closet, and see Peter and Davy both sitting on their beds tying their shoes. They look up at me and smile.

"That looks great, Ruby!" Davy says, and Peter nods.

"In that outfit, you won't have any trouble finding someone to dance with." Pete adds.

"Thank you! Now, lets go, I'm hungry!"

We go out the bedroom door, and Mike is standing in the living room, waiting for us and Micky. "Nice dress." He says to me.

"Thanks. Where's Mick?"

"Straightening his hair. He'll be down in a minute." Mike replies. And as if on cue, Micky bounds out of the bedroom and down the stairs. His hair is real straight, and he's wear a blue button-down shirt with black bellbottoms.

"Hey Mick. You hair looks good! Ready to go?" I ask.

"Oh, thanks, I usually just straighten it for special occasions. And yup, I am."

**Later**

We pull up to the parking lot of the Vincent Van Go Go. Finally, a place in this town I actually know well! We hop out of the car, and head straight for the manager's office. The boys stop to knock, but I barge right in. I know Mr. Douglas pretty well, and he won't care. "Mr. D?!" I holler into the office, and the chair across the room turns around to face us. Up looks a spritely 25-ish year old man, with short blonde hair. "Hey Ruby! Pete! Other people!" He replies.

"Mr. D, this is Mike, Micky, and Davy," I say, pointing to each one as I introduce them. "They are my new roomies. They actually play each of the instruments I need for a backing band, and I was wondering if after we rehearse and get ready as a band, they could start joining me for the act."

He eyes me, while each of the guys stare at him nervously, awaiting a reply. I'm not nervous though, I know Mr. D well enough to know he doesn't care. Just as long as somebody is on stage playing something hip, it doesn't matter to him who. "Sure. I trust ya if ya think they'll work for ya." There is a collective sigh of relief from the guys. "Let me know when they plan on starting. Now get outta my office, I have to call my wife."

We do as he says, and right when we walk out of the office and the door is shut, Micky literally starts jumping up and down. "Yes! We got the job!"

"Goody!" Davy says. "Now lets find a table and get something to eat." He doesn't wait for a table, but just wonders over to a corner booth near us. The rest of us follow suite. I slide in next to Davy, followed by Micky, the Mike, and with Pete hanging off the end. The regular Thursday waitress walks over to us, and before she has time to say anything, Davy is on her.

" 'Ello, lovely. What would you name be?"

This time I chime in before she responds. "Ah, Davy's at it again, I see. Unless you want a short term relationship, I'd ignore this love bug, Deb." Davy blushes. It probably made it worse that I know the waitress. She actually is a very good friend of mine. The rest of the guys are laughing at Davy.

"Thanks for the advice, Ruby, but I think I can handle 'im. Now, do you all know what you want to eat? Or do you want to just order drinks and decide?" Debby asks.

"I'm ready," Mike says after his first glance at the menu. I'll have a cheeseburger and a milkshake please."

"Got it." She says, and moves down the line. Peter asks for a sandwich, and Micky, Davy and I all have salads. "That should be up in just a moment!" She says.

"She's cute. You should ask her to dance when she gets off, Davy." Mike says.

"She gets off in 15 minutes. You should get to asking her if your gonna." I say.

"I think I will when she comes back." Davy replies to us. I smile, I think they would actually be really cute together.

"oh, Mike, I actually know someone here who I think you would like." I say, smiling at him.

"And who would that be?" He asks.

"Well, it's mr. D's younger sister, actually. She doesn't work here, but she comes to see the entertainment a lot. Her name is Phyllis! She about nineteen, and she is right over there!" I point to a table where Phyllis is sitting alone, watching the band (a band called the Beach Boys, they have really good harmonies. I've played with them before.) "Want me to introduce you two?" I ask, since he is staring at her.

"Yeah I'd like that. She's really cute!" He says, and stands up. We walk over, and I introduce them. Phyllis ends up asking Mike to join her at her table, so they can talk for a while. They seem to be getting on well. I look at our table, and see the waitress there with our food, flirting with Davy. I walk up to them.

"You want to join me once I finish? I have about 5 minutes left." She's saying to Davy. Everybody's getting a girlfriend today!

"Sure, love. You wanna just bring the food then, and we can eat together?"

She nods and smiles, and scurries off to the kitchen to finish up. In 3 minutes flat she is back, with Davy's food and a bowl of soup that must be hers. They walk off to another table, Debby giggling as Davy talks to her. I look over to Mike and Phyllis, and see that they are getting along well. Mike is sitting closer to her than before, and she is smiling at him as he talks to her about who-knows-what. I smile at my matchmaking skills. Before I know it, I realize I've eaten all of my food, and so has Micky and Peter. We've been so busy watching everyone else we lost track of how long it's been. After a while, the silence is interrupted by Peter. "Hey look! Rain is here!" He says. "She didn't say she was coming here!"

Rain is Peter's girlfriend, and she seems to be all alone. "Well, go ask her to dance, big Pete!" Micky says, and I nod.

"Well, okay!" Peter says and walks away to her. Pretty soon they are up and dancing.

The song changes to another, slower song. It's "My Girl" by the Temptations. I smile. "This is one of my very favorite songs," I say to Micky.

"Well then, where are my manners?" He says, animated as usual. "Would you care to dance, miss?" He stands and holds out his hand to me.

I stand as well, and place my hand in his. "I would love to, sir!" He laughs, and leads me out to the dance floor.

Micky pulls me close to him, and wraps his arms around my waist. I wrap mine around his neck, and we move to the slow music. There are lights and people everywhere, and the room is flooded with the smell of alcohol and fried food. I look over to see each of the boys dancing with their girl-friend. Micky is smiling at me. "You really do look nice in this dress. I'm glad you bought it." He tells me.

"Thanks, Mick. I like it a lot too. It's the first dress I've bought in ages!" I say, making him smile again. "I really love the necklace on it, the red complements the green on the dress. And the silver brings out the sparkle! It's like they were just MADE for each other!" Micky is looking me in my eyes, listening to me as I ramble about it. He seems so interested, even though it's not a very interesting subject, especially for a guy. I wonder what POSSIBLY could have him so interested…

"I'm so glad you like it." He says to me, and his face tells me he's truly sincere about that. The song ends, and we walk off the dance floor. "So, since you play so many instruments, what is your favorite?" He asks me.

"Well, I love the drums. I like to watch other people play more than I actually like to play them, though. My favorite to actually play is guitar. What's yours?"

"Well, I play guitar too, but drums are my favorite to play. As far as listening, I like piano." He responds, and I smile at him.

"Well I can play for you sometime, if you'd like. I mean we do have a piano."

"What will you play?" He asks, we're smiling at eachother. I don't know what it is, but talking to Micky makes me really happy.

"I can play whatever you'd like. I play by sound so if I know the song I can play it." I reply

"Have you written any songs?"

"Yeah, I've written about four, and I have a notebook full of ones I'm working on. I actually wrote a song for these guys," I say, pointing to the stage. "I wouldn't be surprised if they ask me to sing it with them tonight, they do almost everytime I'm in the audience. I love it."

"Oh, I hope they do." Micky says. "I would love to hear you sing."

"And I want to hear you play!" I tell him. As if on cue, my friend from the band playing, Brian Wilson, steps up to the mic.

"A lovely friend of ours, miss Ruby Tork, wrote this next song for us. So, Ruby," He turns to me. "Would you like to come up and sing it for us?" He smiles a big smile at me, and I laugh, and give a thumbs up. Then I look over to Micky, and feel bad leaving him alone.

"Brian, can my friend Micky here steal the drums just this once?" I yell up to the stage. Micky looks at me nervously, and I give an encouraging wink. Brian looks bad at his drummer, who shook his head strongly.

"He says no… He's very nervous about his drums, you know," Brian says making the audience laugh. "Micky can steal the tambourine from me, though!"

I grab Micky by the hand, and drag him up the stage. He looks nervous. "I should have asked you, I'm sorry. But it is easy, just keep a fast beat for this song and your home free."

"It's okay, this'll be fun!" Micky says, his nervous look going away. We walk up to the mic, Micky standing next to me, and Brian counts off to four. We launch into my song, "Fun, Fun, Fun".

As I'm singing, I look to Micky, who looks like he is having a lot of fun. He watches me as I sing the whole song. Tonight turned out to be the perfect night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Super-Short chapter, sorry!**

I wake up, I look at the clock. 4 AM. I sigh, but I know I can't fall back to sleep. I stand up, quiet so as not to wake Davy or Peter, and walk out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me. I walk out into the kitchen and look through the cupboards until I find a box of graham crackers. I pour myself a glass of milk, and sit at the table with my midnight snack.

I hate when this happens. I'll wake up some time after midnight, get hungry and not be able to fall asleep again for an hour at least. The reason I hate it isn't because It's late, or it makes me tired. It doesn't make me tired in the morning because it happens often enough that my body is used to it. The reason I hate it is because it is the only time that I am truly alone. During the day I can be alone, but that is voluntary. If I want I can go get Peter or call George. During the nighttime I can only be by myself. I can't wake people up, they would just be mad at me for it. So, here I am, another night, subject to the torture of being alone with my own thoughts.

I think about yesterday… What happened yesterday… Then, a flood of memories come rushing to me all of a sudden. I remember going to the beach, Micky chasing me in the sand. Micky bought me a necklace, and I bought the first dress I have bought for 6 years. I remember going to the club. The lights flashing everywhere, the music pounding, the smell of the fried food and cheap beer and drugs. I remember getting up and dancing with Micky, him holding me close to him, and smiling at me. He told me I looked pretty, and for once in my life I actually felt it. I've had plenty of people call me pretty before, but I've never actually had someone say it with so much sincerity. I've never actually has someone say it so that I believed it.

I remember going up on stage, and singing my silly little song. Micky came with me, and supported me. While I sang, he used his one hand to hit a tambourine again his leg and keep the beat for me, and his used his other hand to hold mine. I acted like I wasn't nervous when I went up to sing, but I was more nervous than ever. I think he knew it. His hand gave me something to hold on to, an anchor you might say.

I finish eating my graham crackers, and put the rest in the cupboard. I grab my guitar that's leaning again the wall next to Mike's, and sit on the couch, my back to the stairs. I start playing without really thinking about what I'm playing; I am still too busy thinking.

After I sang, Micky and I went back down to the dance floor. We kept dancing the whole night, every slow song and every fast song, only taking a few breaks just to stop and get a drink. We ended up rounding up with the rest of the guys around midnight, and came home.

All I can think about is Micky. I've never had this before. I put my guitar away, and wander back into my room… And think of the possibilities.

Could it be I'm falling in love?


	8. My chat with Michael

Friday, February 26, 2013

I wake up, realizing all that had gone through my mind last night. Everything was just happening WAY to fast. Less than a week and I think I'm falling in love? I don't think that is even possible. I'm just being stupid. I get up, and groggily walk across the room to the bathroom. I wash my face, and brush my hair and tie it in a ponytail.

I look myself down in the mirror… So tall, and skinny. I just look like a really long stick with black hair. I'm wearing red flannel pajamas, a little big, but the still make me look skinny as heck. In all my life, no one has ever called me pretty, except Peter. But I think he was just trying to make me feel better. I think to myself… _I wish I could just look like someone pretty. Like the models, with they're dark eyes and blonde hair and gorgeous curvy bodies. Instead I'm stuck with too-bright eyes, the darkest hair possible, and I look like a freakin' twig! So what if I'm in love with Micky… It doesn't matter anyways. He'll never love me back. He wouldn't want to love someone as ugly as me._

After I start to compose myself, I walk out of the bathroom, and go to pour myself a bowl of cereal. Mike is in the kitchen pouring his own. I walk over, pouring my cereal and OJ on top.

"It is mighty fine outside, Rubes. What do ya say we sit outside for our mornin' meal?"

I smile. "That sounds lovely." We pick up our bowls of cereal and our spoons, and walk outside onto the patio. As I am closing the glass door behind me, I see Micky walking down the stairs. I frown, I think if I were to talk to him right now I'd just start crying, but once I eat and get over myself, I'm sure I'll be fine. He looks at me, and I shut the door and pretend I didn't notice him.

Mike sits in a little chair we have on the patio, and I do the same. I stay quiet, just eating and watching the ocean, until Mike breaks the silence.

As I am taking a bite of cereal, he says to me, "So, you like Mick, huh?" I start choking.

After I've stopped choking and composed myself again, I look Mike straight in the eye and say, "What are you even talking about?"

"Oh give me a break, Ruby. I saw you two dancing last night, the way you looked at each other. And holdin' hands durin' that song of yours! You can't pull that over on me, it's pretty easy to see how you two are feelin'. "

Well, he can tell. I might as well not try to hide it from him, that would just be a waste. I sigh. "It's not like he'll ever like me back anyways, Mike. Who cares…" I say.

"You don't think he likes you? Oh, merciful heavens! We need to get your eyes checked, missy! For the last two days all it's been from him is 'Ruby, this' and 'Ruby, that.' You don't notice him staring at you all the time, and constantly trying to spend time with you? He smiles at you constantly."

"All he did was take me to show me around town… he was just being nice. And what are you talking about, staring at me?"

"Just look at the kitchen table." Mike says to me. I look over my shoulder, to see Micky smiling at me. But, right when I look he looks at his cereal immediately, and the smile wipes off his face. I feel the blood rush out of my face. I look over at Mike.

"Look, Ruby, all I'm sayin' to ya is, be careful. Micky looks tough easygoing, but I know him well enough to know he's delicate with his feelings. Now, of all the girls I've ever seen him fall for, which were not many by the way, I think you are the one that is finally a good match. And let me tell you one more thing, Micky doesn't fall for girls often. When he does, he puts his all into that girl. When he falls in love, he falls deep! I guess you could say, he's the exact opposite of Davy, if that puts it in perspective."

"Thanks for the advice, Mike. You're a good friend."

"Don't get all gushy with me, you go in and chat with Micky some. THAT'S who you need to go get gushy with." I smile, and go in and do exactly what Mike said.


End file.
